Part I | Brief Summary

Category D | Human Rights

Topic 17 | UDHR Article 18

The most widely accepted articulation of freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) is found in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1948. Article 18 states that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” including the right to change one’s religion or belief; the right to practice one’s religion or belief in public or private, alone or in community with others; and the right to manifest one’s religion or belief through teaching, practice, worship, and observance. While the UDHR is an important normative statement, it does not itself directly create binding legal obligations on states. Nevertheless, Article 18 is the universal “standard of achievement” and aspirational benchmark that religious freedom efforts ought to be measured against. Additionally, the UDHR and, more particularly, Article 18 have shaped legally binding treaties as well as jus cogens (mandatory, universally accepted norms in international law) and many constitutional and statutory provisions that protect freedom of religion and belief.